(Author: docDownload development team; last updated: October 28, 2007)
The examples offered in docDownload's Codes of Ethics are based on a practical compromise between
(a) a form of existentialism (that views the world as "absurd" and holds that human beings have no essential purpose or nature and that humans have complete freedom to define humanity and a painful ethical responsibility to do so) and
(b) a form of secular humanism (that, without supernaturalism, affirms our ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfilment that aspire to the greater good of humanity).
What is a compromise?
Often in philosophy, if you want to adopt two positions, you have to compromise between them, because part of one stance is diametrically opposed to, or not compatible with, the other. This might require you to reject parts of each stance, so that they can fit together without argument. By doing this, you create a new stance yourself.
Why do we feel the need to compromise?
The docDownload position sees ethics as basically "human", and moral structures and choices as (as proposed by the humanists) "fundamental to what it means to be human"; it accepts (as proposed by the existentialists) that humans can change all aspects of their life, but, (we propose) because a person can only ever be a social being, this 'complete freedom' can only ever be defined in the context of the moral choices that humans are continuously being called upon to make (identified by the humanists), both at the individual and social level, and that, since the concepts of what is "right" and "wrong" have developed in the full history of the development of humanity, (we don't propose that mankind can simply "declare" or "plan for" what is "right " and what is "wrong" as proposed by the humanists but that) it is possible to 'know' what is right and wrong in the context of this history of humanity, without the need for reference to any form of spiritualism or supernaturalism). This compromise (a rejection of the 'moralism' often implied in many forms of humanism, while at the same time imposing some natural limits to the freedoms implied by the existentialists) has been adopted by docDownload, for the purpose of generating these ethical statements. It does not represent the position of any particular docDownload team member. Of course, the position adopted has its problems and its critics, as all moral positions do, and writers of codes of ethics would be well advised to consider the various philosophical alternatives and, after revising their moral position, to consider re-writing the docDownload code of ethics according to the philosophical impact of the new moral position they have adopted. The following reading may assist this process:
Some links to get you started:
ISMs - the Beginner's Guide to Philosophy
Contractualism (or the social contract)
Egoism
Egoism
Ethical Egoism
Existentialism
Existentialism and humanism
Existentialism and Sartre
Hedonism
The paradox of Hedonism
Humanism
Humanist Manifesto
Council for Secular Humanism
Kantianism or the categorical imperative
Naturalism
Naturalism
Naturalism
Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism
Virtue
Virtue